riverdalesource:

Camila Mendes photographed by Meredith Jenks for Coveteur

It was frustrating because all of the roles I went out for I never really felt like I was right for. Especially being Latina, people want to make use of that. So I would go out for shows like Blue Bloods and Shades of Blue, and all of these crime dramas where they are looking for these foster child Latinas, like ‘underprivileged and urban’ as they would say. I never really fit that stereotype, and I didn’t want to play a stereotype. I kept getting the note that I’m not ‘urban enough.’ So it’s like, okay I’m not urban enough and I’m not white enough, what am I? Why are there no roles out there that fit me! Veronica came in and it was the perfect balance. She was Latina! They wanted her to be ethnic, but that wasn’t the point of her character. She wasn’t a stereotype. She was just an American Latina. And that is how I identify, I don’t need to play up anything. I am this character. Everything just kinda fell into place with her.